Peacecamp 2008

I am osnat oknin.
I'm 46 years old and live in kiryat ata, which is a city near Haifa.
I love working with teenagers. I think it makes me feel young. I also love reading and going for long walks along the beach. I have been teaching English in "carmel zvulun" for 23 years and love ...

My name is sharon sar.
I live in kibbutz usha.
I am 41 years old and have been teaching science and nature in "carmel zvulun" for 14 years.

I love animals, traveling and hiking.
I am looking forward to meeting you all.

A nice pre-camp encounter

Mid of June 2008 I made a short trip to Israel, partly on private matters (The son of my cousin got married!) and partly on "peacecamp business". On Thursday, June 12 I went up north in the direction of Haifa, straight to Kibbutz Yagur. This is the kibbutz, whose school the peacecamp participants of 2007 are attending, as well as those of the coming 2008 peacecamp.

So I had the chance to meet all the 8 Jewish-Israeli participants of 2008 and the 2 teachers which will accompany them: Osnat, whom I know from last year already, and Sharon. (Note: As Sharon is used in Israel for both male and female persons, I can reveal: This Sharon is a man.)

But this is only part of the story, actually half of it: The whole Arab-Israeli group came over from their school in Nazareth. Again 8 participants and 2 teachers (2 ladies: last year's Nazira and newcomer Maysaa).

This was the first time the participants of the two groups met, and as expected it took them some time to overcome their first timidness - no wonder for Jews and Arabs in a country like Israel. I think I could be of some help in this situation: First of all I brought them a sweet Austrian speciality, the so-called "Mozartkugeln" (rum truffle with marzipan), which were a big success. Well, and secondly I told them a lot about the previous peacecamps and what to expect from the future one.

I stressed the fact that a peacecamp is definitely not a holiday camp. Rather, the participants are expected to do some preparatory work before it, to participate in all activities while on the camp and to do some final work upon the end of their stay in Austria. I explained to them the principle of how our project functions: Whenever the peacecamp "work" is done properly and we can present its results to the public, we will get enough funds to organise next year's camp. This means: Each group contributes to the group of the year to follow. I am pretty sure they all understood.

Anyway, after two hours I left with the comforting feeling: I met with two highly motivated groups coming from Israel to peacecamp 2008.

Ronny Böhmer

My name is Barbara Goesch, I live in lovely Vienna only since september 07.
Before I was working as a music teacher in Klagenfurt, the capital of Carinthia, the southernmost part of Austria. There I learned about prejudices and fears between the Slovenian speaking and the German speaking population. But originally I come from Berlin where I was born and have studied music and have witnessed the building of the Berlin- Wall.
Not only these living conditions but also my family history make me curious to learn about people of different origins and different political ways.
My hobbies: many plants on my balcony, two tom-cats, walking around with friends in the beautiful surroundings of Vienna, singing and reading a lot.
I’m looking forward to meet you all!

Ich lebe und arbeite als Schriftsteller in Wien-Josefstadt. Meine Spezialität sind Biographien historischer Wiener Persönlichkeiten, zumeist jüdischer Abstammung, wie des Finanzministers Steinbach, des Sozialphilosophen Goldscheid oder des Stadtrates Breitner. Kürzlich habe ich ein Buch über ein Wiener Arbeiterehepaar fertig gestellt, das von der Nazijustiz Ende 1942 hingerichtet worden ist. Gelegentlich schreibe ich auch längere, humoristische Erzählungen. Wer Näheres über meine Arbeit wissen will, findet es unter http://www.wolfgangfritz.at
Privat bin ich ein Familienmensch, glücklich verheiratet mit der frauenbewegten Elfi und stolzer Vater zweier Töchter, der Juristin Therese und der Schauspielerin Anna-Sophie.
Ich bin wegen meiner etwas schwierigen Gesundheit ein ziemlich asketischer Typ geworden, rauche nicht, trinke keinen Alkohol und esse kein Fleisch, strample mich auf dem Zimmerfahrrad ab, gehe joggen und mache ausgedehnte Spaziergänge.

Auf dem Foto schwebe ich hoch über Jericho, der ältesten Stadt der Welt. Ihre Mauern stürzen ein, wenn man ihnen die richtige Musik vorspielt. Möge uns das auch mit dem israelisch-palästinensischen Unfrieden gelingen!

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I live and work as an author in Vienna's 8th district. I have specialised in biographies of historic personalities from Vienna, mainly of Jewish origin, such as the minister of finance Steinbach. A short while ago I have finished a book on a Viennese couple of workers, which has been executed by the Nazi judiciary, end of 1942. Sometimes I write humoristic stories. For details, please see http://www.wolfgangfritz.at

As to my private life: I am devoted to my family, am happily married to Elfi (who is active in the women's movement) with two daughters: Therese, a jurist, and Anna-Sophie, an actress. Due to my delicate health I turned to be quite an ascetic person, do not smoke, do not drink alcohol and eat no meat; I rather pedal on my indoor bike, do jogging and extensive walks.

On the photo you see me floating high above Jericho, the oldest city of the world, whose walls collapse at the right tones of music. We hope this to happen with the israeli-palestinian strife.

Hi, that's me. My name is Bianca Blaickner, I am 27 and originally from the alps in Austria. Currently I am living in Vienna and I am working in an educational project for youngsters with migrant background. One year ago, I still lived in Berlin where I studied Intercultural Conflict Management. I love this multicultural, international city... In my free time I like reading, Pilates, jogging and travelling..I spent several months in Israel and some countries in Latin America. In the Peace Camp I will do the scientific monitoring and I am already very much looking forward to get to know you. See you soon!

Actually, my first name is Ronaldo, but since I don't want to be mistaken for a football star earning millions, I prefer to be called Ronny. I was born in Argentina and have lived most of my life in Austria. I am Evelyn's husband, and this means to be at the peacecamp's service day and (especially) night.

On the picture you can see me at this year's "Jewish Street Festival" in Vienna, where Evelyn and I had a stand presenting the peacecamp to the passers-by. And I am wearing the T-shirt with the logo of peacecamp 2007. I promise: Next year I will be wearing the T-shirt with the logo of 2008, which you all will create right at the peacecamp's first day.

In last year's blog I described my job at the peacecamp as follows: "I will be with you at the peacecamp right at the beginning taking care of everything, and at the end taking care of nothing any more - or the other way round." To tell you the truth, this is true for 2008 as well (and will be so for 2009 and ...).

I am very much looking forward to meeting you all and having a good time.
Bye for now, Ronny
ronaldoATutanet.at

Hallo!
Mein Name ist Gerald Muthsam, ich bin 36 Jahre alt, und komme aus der
Gemeinde in der das Peacecamp stattfindet. Ich lebe seit 6 Jahren als
Künstler und ich arbeite immer wieder mit Gruppen im Bereich Teambuilding,
Kommunikation und Selbsterfahrung. Ich habe schon viele Spiele und
Herausforderungen für das Camp vorbereitet. Ich war auch letztes Jahr mit großer Freude dabei und ich freue mich auf euer Kommen. Bis bald,Gerald

Hallo!
My name is Gerald Muthsam. I am 36 years old and am come from the local community in which peacecamp will take place. I am an artist and have been working for 6 years in the area of teambuilding, communication and self-experience.
I have already prepared many games and challenges for your peacecamp. I have participated in last year's peacecamp and am very much looking forward to your visit.
See you soon,
Gerald

Dear participants,
My name is Maria, I`m 30 years old and I will do the workshop "rhythm and movement" together with Linda. I took also part at the peace camp in Reibers last summer and it was a great experience for me, coming together with so many young people, who want to change something. For that reason I decided to do this camp again and contribute my part to make this camp succeed.

I study "rhythmic/music and movement - education" in Vienna, which I will soon finish :-)) - my interests are multifarious - beside music and dance I like to do several sports, meet friends, read, travel, as you see on the picture - climb mountains..... I`m looking forward to meet you, maria

"Dear friends:
I am Silvio Gutkowski, a good friend of Evelyne and also friend of other members of the Staff.
I worked the last year in the Peace Camp and felt how important for me was as a human being.,To contribute to grow up young people, that is able to work for peaceful life.
My task in the Peace Camp is to coordinate the group event, and to promove dialogue .
In my private life I work in jerusalem in a hospital and I have my family , a nice wife 2 wonderful daughters, and a grandson. I think many times about there future and in that moments I am convinced we have to make all we can to give the next generations a world that it's fun to be and enjoy.
I like music, walking and riding bycicle, and making jokes, and laugh. I hope to see you and enjoy next july together.
Silvio